Monetizing Telegram Mini Apps: Stars Revenue and TON Payments

Telegram Mini Apps became a full-fledged platform by 2025–2026: tap games with millions of users, NFT marketplaces, education courses, ticketing services, P2P exchange. Each of these apps eventually faces a monetization decision, and there is a choice between three quite different models: Telegram Stars, TON Connect (direct TON payments), and Crypto Pay API.

Each model solves a specific class of problems, has its own economics, and is limited by goods type and region. This article covers how they work, what they cost, who they suit, and how a hybrid strategy combines them.

Telegram Stars: what it is and how it works

Telegram Stars is the platform’s internal currency, introduced in 2024. A user buys Stars via standard in-app purchase: Apple App Store on iOS, Google Play on Android, or directly via the Telegram website on desktop. Stars credit to the account and are then spent on:

• Gifts (TG gifts) and sticker packs.
• Paid content in channels (Channel Stars).
• Purchases inside Mini Apps.
• Boost features and Telegram Premium.
• Subscriptions (Stars subscriptions) — fixed periodic payments.

For a Mini App developer this means a simple payment intake interface: call openInvoice via Bot API, the user confirms inside Telegram, Stars credit to your balance. No App Store or Google Play integration on the developer side — Telegram handles IAP centrally.

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Why Stars exist at all. Apple and Google require that digital goods sold inside apps go exclusively through their IAP, with a 15–30% fee. Telegram built Stars as a way to satisfy that rule centrally — all digital purchases inside Telegram run through Stars, and the stores collect their cut once rather than from every Mini App.

Revenue split in Stars

The distribution from buyer to developer has three layers:

1. Payment platform (Apple IAP / Google Play / Telegram web). Takes the standard share — 15% under the Small Business Program, 30% otherwise. On the web the share is materially lower.
2. Telegram retention. The platform keeps a percentage for infrastructure and development. Exact numbers are published in the developer policy.
3. Net share to the developer. What lands in the Stars balance.

Telegram officially estimates the net developer share at “around 70%” after all fees — actual numbers vary by platform and region. For financial modeling, lean on the conservative end.

Stars withdrawal: cycle via Fragment

Accumulated Stars are withdrawn not directly but by conversion to TON on Fragment.com (the same platform that sells username NFTs and +888 numbers):

1. Stars in balance become withdrawable after 21 days (anti-fraud hold).
2. The developer initiates withdrawal in Fragment — Stars convert to TON at Telegram’s official rate.
3. TON is sent to the TON wallet linked to the account.
4. From the wallet — standard route: sell on CEX, swap to stablecoin, deploy in DeFi.

Minimum withdrawal threshold and fee depend on volume. At large amounts the fee percentage trends to zero; at small amounts it is noticeable.

TON Connect: direct TON payments

The alternative model is taking payments directly in TON via TON Connect. The user connects their wallet (Tonkeeper, MyTonWallet, TON Space) to the Mini App, the developer initiates the transaction, the user confirms.

Important characteristics:

• No platform fee. You get 100% of TON minus on-chain gas (cents on TON).
• Instant settlement. The transaction confirms in seconds, no 21-day hold.
• Goods-type restriction. Apple/Google forbid using third-party payments for digital goods inside apps. Use TON Connect for in-game skins and you risk Telegram being blocked.
• What is allowed. Physical goods, services delivered outside the app (delivery, consulting, ticket to an offline event), B2B access, P2P transfers.

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The “digital goods” boundary is fuzzy. A ticket to an online webinar is digital. Access to a closed Telegram channel via a bot is a borderline case. If in doubt, use Stars: 30% more expensive but no risk. Apple does audit, and blocking Telegram outright would hit the entire product.

Crypto Pay API: the third path

Crypto Pay API from @CryptoBot is an intermediary that accepts payments in TON, USDT, BTC, and other cryptos via bot. Widely used for P2P, exchange, and marketplaces inside Telegram.

Properties:

• Multi-currency support without integrating each wallet individually.
• Ready-made invoice / callback / withdraw infrastructure.
• Crypto Pay fee is small but non-zero.
• Custodial scheme: funds sit on Crypto Bot, not directly with the developer.
• Apple/Google restrictions are the same as TON Connect: not for digital goods.

Crypto Pay is convenient when building non-exchange swap, P2P services, multi-currency marketplaces — anywhere you need abstraction from a specific chain.

Comparison table

Hybrid strategy: how mature products choose

Experienced teams rarely pick a single model — they combine:

1. Digital goods inside Mini App → Stars. Skins, boosts, accelerators, tap upgrades, premium content. The area where Stars is mandatory.
2. Physical goods and offline services → TON Connect. Event tickets, merch, delivery. Apple’s rules do not apply here.
3. P2P exchange and cross-wallet flows → Crypto Pay. If the app is about money rather than gameplay, the choice is obvious.
4. Subscriptions → Stars subscriptions. Content apps, premium info access, AI assistants on premium tiers.

Many games go with “in-game purchases via Stars, NFT items and player-to-player trade via TON Connect” — legal because NFTs and on-chain in-game currency are treated as user assets, not developer-supplied content.

Regional limits

Stars are not available everywhere:

• In some countries Apple/Google restrict access to IAP — Stars become unavailable via mobile clients. The Telegram web remains an option.
• In jurisdictions with strict crypto-payment regulation (some Middle East countries, China) Mini Apps may be fully restricted.
• In CIS-region countries Stars work, but payment processors change periodically — stability is lower than in EU/US.

For a global app it is reasonable to support both paths — Stars for users where they work, TON Connect for the rest (where Apple/Google does not interfere).

Withdrawal cadence and tax trail

The developer should plan withdrawals in advance:

• 21-day Stars hold. Budget cash-flow gap: the first 21 days after launch you are selling but have withdrawn nothing.
• Stars → TON conversion is volatile. The Stars rate is fixed but TON in fiat is not. From sale to USDT on a CEX a month can pass with price change.
• Tax filing. In most jurisdictions Stars revenue and TON payments count as developer income. KYC and AML on Fragment / CEX track withdrawals.

In crypto-friendly jurisdictions (UAE, Singapore, Hong Kong, partially EU under MiCA) the flow is simpler; in stricter jurisdictions it is harder but workable with the right structure.

Monetization launch checklist

Minimum set for a new Mini App:

1. Decide the goods type: digital content → Stars; physical/services → TON Connect; multi-currency exchange → Crypto Pay.
2. Plan the cash cycle (especially if hiring — the 21-day Stars holdback).
3. Hook up analytics: Telegram Analytics for Stars, Yandex.Metrika or equivalent for the funnel.
4. Configure webhook handling for purchases and refund flows.
5. Prepare a refund policy — Apple/Google can force a refund and you must account for it.
6. Document revenue structure for tax filings.

✓

Simple heuristic. If your Mini App fits the App Store category “games” or “entertainment” — Stars is mandatory for in-app purchases. If it is a tool/marketplace/service, there is room for TON Connect and Crypto Pay.

Conclusion

Monetizing a Telegram Mini App in 2026 is not “pick one provider” but composing three tools with different zones of validity. Stars solve digital goods and Apple/Google compliance at ~30% fee cost. TON Connect gives near-full developer share but only for permitted goods types. Crypto Pay covers multi-currency and P2P.

A mature monetization strategy accounts for goods type, audience geography, cash cycle, and regulatory backdrop. Ignoring App Store rules to “save on the Apple tax” leads to Telegram being blocked. Ignoring TON Connect when it is legally applicable leads to margin given away.

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